International Journal of Humanities and Social Science
Vol. 2 No. 22 [Special Issue – November 2012]
Springboards to Reflection: Higher Education Administrators Share Experiences
Volume II
C. Kevin Synnott, PhD
Department of Business Administration
Eastern Connecticut State University
83 Windham Street
Willimantic, CT 06226, USA.
Abstract
This is the second in a series of anthologies. The purpose of this compilation is to provide a learning experience
by encouraging the audience to reflect on the real life experiences of successful administrators. This work can be
used as a supplement for courses in education, educational leadership, public administration, and management.
Instructors can use the participants' experiences for classroom discussions and case studies.
Keywords: Public Administration, Professional Higher Education Administration, Higher Education
Leadership, Student Affairs Administration,
Student Activities, Student Development, Student Services,
Management, Organizational Behavior, and Human Resources Management, Case Studies
1. Introduction
This second compilation is similar to the first, that is, Springboards to Reflection: Higher Education
Administrators Share Experiences Volume I (Synnott, 2011a). Presidents, and other administrators serving in our
colleges and universities contributed to this work by providing personal experiences regarding to their work in
higher education. Some participants shared humorous stories while others shared stories of a somewhat serious
nature. The audience consists of university and college undergraduate and graduate students studying Higher
Education Leadership, Professional Higher Education Administration, Student Affairs Administration, Student
Activities, Student Development, Student Services, Public Administration, and a numerous managers and
administrators in other fields.
2. Suggested Methods for Instruction
Many stories, that is, springboards relate to more than one topic. Instructors can use the participants' experiences
for classroom discussions and or case studies. Reflection prompts are action statements that act as catalysts for
classroom discussions and for case analyses. Space is provided for instructors to develop applicable reflection
prompts based on their instruction.
3. Case Studies
Springboard 1
If it was always this simple*
Harold H. Damato
Senior Vice President
Academic and Student Affairs
Sussex County Community College
Newton, NJ
Working at a college situated in a residential community I was perpetually challenged to
relationships with neighbors adjacent to the residence halls.
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Turkeys at Thanksgiving and Christmas baskets went a long way in promoting those relationships, but the issues
could be substantive. A perennial problem reported to me was the offense taken by neighbors at the sight of
partially dissected cats hanging out of dorm windows. Students will work at length to create provocative events,
but this was not the case with the dissections. These were serious students attempting to complete their lab
assignments and understandably completing the work in their rooms they didn’t want to spend the night with the
desiccated cat.There are complicated problems with complicated solutions, but on occasion we miss the obvious.
A quick call to housekeeping to deliver a carton of opaque black bags to the lab to replace the clear plastic bags
used for years put an end to the controversy. Weexperienced few complaints thereafter; if only it was always that
simple.
Reflection Prompt:____________________________________________________
Springboard 2
Reflections of a New President*
Thomas A. Isekenegbe, Ph.D.
President
Cumberland County College
Vineland, NJ
I assumed the Presidency of Cumberland County College on March 1, 2010, after serving for about eight months
in an Interim role. Prior to serving as the Interim, I served for eight years as Vice President for Academic Affairs
& Enrollment Services at the same Institution.
As Vice President, I was focused on Academic programs, Faculty and other related issues. I had lofty ideas and
always worked at them within the context of Academics, Faculty and Students. I always made arguments why X
or Y needs to be done as it relates to Faculty or Students while sometimes missing the big College picture.All
these changed with the ascension to the office of the President. Instead of just looking to the benefits of Faculty,
Academic programs and Students, I am forced to take a more global view of the Institution and the Community as
a wholeAs the President, I find myself now asking questions about the overall implications of X on not just
Faculty, Academic programs but the entire College’s Internal and External Stakeholders.
As a new President, I am finding out that this position and role is significantly different from the Academic VicePresident’s. As the President, I am now the face and representation of my College. I meet people at various places
in town who want to talk about the College or tell me about issues. I also find the role a 24/7 one. As Vice
President for Academic Affairs, I used to believe that my work was done when I left the College for the day.
This 24/7 role is important to know for those thinking about pursing a College Presidency or higher level
Administrative positions in the near future.Despite all the meetings off and on campus, I relish the role of
President because at the end of the day you can truly make a difference on campus.
Reflection Prompt:____________________________________________________
Springboard 3
Deferred Contingent Compensation
Alan D. Marble, Ph.D.
President
Crowder College
Neosho, MO .
A few years ago when I served as Business Manager of a small, rural, community college we found ourselves
again faced with a very difficult budget year. Tuition revenue was flat, property tax collections were flat, and we
were operating under the threat of a mid-year "withholding" of state appropriations. But, we were also entering
the year with one of the lowest faculty salary schedules in the state and the fear of losing great instructors to other
institutions was a very real concern. We wanted to give raises but the budget was just too uncertain to make the
commitment.
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To make matters worse, the state retirement system banned salary adjustments that appeared to be "bonuses"
because it was a defined benefit system that could be manipulated by late career salary hikes that accrued to the
retirees benefit at the expense of current workers. So, a mid-year bonus was out of the question even if the state
withholdings didn't occur as threatened.Then the solution occurred to me... let's wait until mid-year and see what
happens. If the state withholdings occurred then no compensation changed could occur, but if the state decided to
pay in full then we could implement raises through a vehicle I called "Deferred Contingent Compensation." As it
turned out, the state did not withhold money and we triggered the Deferred Contingent Compensation program
and it held up even under great scrutiny from the retirement system. Sometimes you just have to be creative.
Reflection Prompt:____________________________________________________
Springboard 4
Crisis Management*
Bryon Grigsby
Senior Vice President and
Vice President for Academic Affairs
Shenandoah University
Winchester, VA
When you are the Provost, getting a call from your president at any time is rarely a good thing. Getting a call
from him at 8pm on a Friday night cannever be good. This happened to me when I was working as the Provost
and Chief Operating Officer at Centenary College in New Jersey. My family and I had just finished up dinner and
cleared the table when my Blackberry rang with the president’s name, Ken Hoyt. I answered fearing the worst
about our school and the students. Ken said, “I have just been informed that one of our staff members has lost a
payroll disk and they have known about this for three months before they reported it to us. On the payroll disk are
all the employees’ social security numbers. I need you to learn everything you can about identify theft by
Monday at 8am. You need to present to me a plan of action that we are going to implement by 9am that day that
will mitigate our exposure. See you on Monday. Have a good weekend.” Now, when you go into university
administration, you think back to those days when you were a student or a faculty member and say things like,
“When I was writing my little book report (my dissertation) on Chaucer, I’d never thought I’d have to learn about
identity theft.” However, you have refined incredibly useful skills for this kind of work—the ability to research,
to synthesize, and to offer a theory or a plan. Early on Saturday morning, I started researching…I began by
logging onto Educause and learning everything I could from their white papers on identify theft and what other
colleges and universities did. I read lots of newspaper and journal articles about types of identity thefts and what
one could do to mitigate further damage. I was essentially back in graduate school researching—I was just
researching a somewhat strange topic—at least to an academic.
After two days of straight research, I was ready to start formulating my plan to the president. I decide that at 9am
we would call together the entire university community. Fortunately, classes had not begun but faculty and staff
were expected to be on campus that day. We would hold the meeting in the chapel as a symbolic gesture as we
were a Methodist Institution and should feel hope and resolve in that space. I had prepared the president’s speech
that gave the facts about the disk, did not ascribe blame to the office that lost it, but did not try to cover over the
gravity of the situation. The president also announced the resolution that the College would take responsibility
for the potential identity theft by paying for a year for a company to monitor all the employees social security
numbers. If we had a documented case, the College would provide a second year of coverage at no charge to the
employees. The president’s speech went for about 15 minutes with a short question and answer period. During
the question and answer period, we introduced the chair of the Criminal Justice Program, Dr. Joseph Linsky, who
was a former police chief, to talk about how common this is and ways to protect you from further threats. The
faculty asked him lots of questions and you could see that they felt more calm and appreciative of the time. The
president then announced that all the vice presidents would be in individual classrooms and would be there to
answer any questions anyone had privately and that we would stay in those classroom through lunch if people
wanted to come back and receive further counseling.
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At the end of the year, we did not have a documented complaint, and believed that this disk was actually in a
landfill somewhere. The vice presidents felt good that they had taken on a crisis and come out stronger in the
eyes of the faculty and staff. I was given the final task of making sure it didn’t happened again which allowed us
to take advantage of some new technology for moving that information over secured servers rather than disks.
I learned that the skills that enabled you to get your Ph.D. are highly useful skills for administration—the ability
to thoroughly research, integrate ideas into a concise report and then offer a plan of action—are highly valuable
and sought after skills in a crisis. I also learned that you need to be ready to take responsibility on behalf of the
institution, but not never blame others. You need to also be ready with a solution that protects the people who rely
on you. Don’t overlook your internal experts, as they can be more valuable in times of crisis than outside
consultants. A college or university is FILLED with experts; use them. Faculty appreciate when they are being
talked to by other faculty, and even subconsciously can see themselves being called into the limelight if their
expertise is warranted. Finally, don’t overestimate the value of having lots of human interaction with people who
are just learning about a crisis. The time all the Vice Presidents spent talking to individuals who were concerned
was as valuable to the health of the institution as was the paying for a monitoring program for all employees.
They truly got the sense that we care and we are doing everything we can to minimize any affect.
Reflection Prompt:____________________________________________________
Springboard 5
Leading Change*
Bryon Grigsby
Senior Vice President and
Vice President for Academic Affairs
Shenandoah University
Winchester, VA
I came to Shenandoah University in the summer of 2008 as the Senior Vice President and Vice President for
Academic Affairs. Prior to this I was the Provost and Chief Operating Officer at Centenary College in New
Jersey, where I had helped the college to become the first wireless laptop campus in the state. When I got to
Shenandoah, I noticed that while its mission statement state that the University “incorporates…sophisticated
technologies,” I saw little to justify that statement. Moreover, I choose to set an example with the faculty my first
semester by teaching a First Year Composition class. Having come from a ubiquitous laptop campus and having
gotten used to teaching with those tools, I was immediately struck by an inability to do my best teaching because I
now lacked the tools I was used to having. I started talking to faculty leaders on campus and there seemed to be
some interest in the campus moving to a ubiquitous platform.
My first problem was that Shenandoah had a rich and vibrant Conservatory and I knew that I couldn’t shove an
IBM down their throats and survive—they would want Macs. My second problem was that the Business School
had tried a laptop program and believed strongly that the program was what was causing their enrollments to dip.
I had just the opposite experience with enrollments, so all imagine was that only by doing one school made it
impossible to use the laptop effectively in integrated courses because not all the students had them. This led to
growing student resentment of why do we have to have these computers if we are not going to use them in class.
I also knew I wasn’t going to be able to shove a Mac down the business school’s throat.
So, I planned on two platforms—a Mac platform for the Conservatory students and faculty and an IBM platform
for everyone else. I recognized that this plan would be a nightmare for Instructional Technology to maintain two
different systems, but what is best for the students needed to override what is best for the staff.
Since I was very comfortable with IBM and their platform, I chose to bring Apple in first to see how this would
work. In the meeting with Apple Sales Person, Bob Jennings identified that they were coming out with a
MacBook that was completely environmentally friendly. Since Shenandoah’s strategic plan identified an
initiative to become more environmentally friendly, this was a plus in Apple’s favor. Then Bob brought up that it
could now run both a Windows and a Mac OS platform on the new dual processor. So we could have one
machine serving both needs. I knew that this was the answer to my IT problem of dual platforms.
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Finally, Bob said, “Why don’t you try one for three weeks and see what you think?” Three days after using the
Mac, I walked my IBM down to IT and said I was converting over to Mac. We also chose at that meeting that
students needed a common connection device—either an iPod Touch or an iPhone.
Dr. Barry Adams, a teaching and technology specialist for Apple, presented these devices to the Academic
Cabinet. All but the dean of the business school seemed initially supportive. As he said in the meeting, if I go
back to my school and say we are going to have another laptop program, you are going to here the explosion all
the way over here. I decided that the best course of action was to give their most tech-savvy faculty member a
MacBook with Windows loaded on it to give me a report about how it performed. His evaluation was glowing
about the computer’s speed, graphics, storage, etc. But I still had to sell the faculty in the business school that this
wouldn’t further damage their enrollments.
I asked the dean if I could meet with them to explain my vision for the program. He agreed but said I needed to
be read for a war. I went in and explained why I didn’t think their program worked—that it wasn’t ubiquitous and
it wasn’t their fault—that University needed to embrace technology across the campus as the mission statement
said. I explained to them that none of the businesses we are prepare student for runs by asking its workers to
bring in their home computers and connecting them to the internet…why do we think colleges and universities
can work that way? Without a common platform, it is impossible to work effectively and efficiently. I also
explained that many students can’t afford the best laptop or computer, but that by making it part of tuition, we can
guarantee that each students has what we believe they need. And I finally explained that the MacBook and the
iPod Touch/iPhone are simply tools—teaching tools like the white board or the overhead projector and by
denying them, they were denying their fellow colleagues from having access to all the tools they might want to
effect learning in the classroom. Eventually, I won over the business school and the agreed to adopt the program.
It was then the president said to me that I needed to sell this program the same way to each campus constituent. I
had not done this at my previous job—the president just mandated it and there was lots of grumbling because of
this. So I took my show on the road, and I got unanimous votes from the Academic Cabinet, Student Senate,
Faculty Senate, University Cabinet, and the Board of Trustees. Just before heading to the meeting with Faculty
Senate, I had called the president and asked if she wanted a vote from the Senate. She said, “Are you sure the
vote will be for it?” I said, “No.” “Then I don’t want a vote,” she replied. However, the meeting was going so
well, the vice president and business school faculty member said, “I make a motion that we enthusiastically
support the recommendation to become a Apple campus.” The vote was unanimous.
Besides verbal buy-in to the program, we also had financial. While working with the CFO Richard Shickle, I
explained to him some of my lessoned learned from previously trying to implement a program like this. One, I
wanted the faculty to be have the laptops and mobile devices at the end of spring semester giving them the entire
summer to become accustom to it. I also wanted paid training for the faculty who were going to be teaching First
Year Seminar or any other traditional first year enrolled courses as we were rolling this out with the entering first
year class. So we were planning on training 60 of the 200 faculty in the first year. Richard said that if I wanted
to do that, I needed to come up with $150K of seed money to support the faculty laptops and training prior to
revenue coming in from tuition in the fall. I went to Academic Cabinet and said that I was willing to take the
$50K of my budget for technology and apply it to this program for this year. Were they willing to give of their
operating budget. The Deans of Arts and Science, Conservatory, Business, Health Professions and Pharmacy all
contributed $10K. The president and I went to a donor who was very technology interested and asked for a 100K
contribution—of which, he agreed to $50K. Consequently we had the $150,000, but we also had great buy in
because every major academic entity had contributed, and the president and I also got donor support for the
project.
In the Spring of 2009, we handed out 80 MacBooks and iPod Touches or iPhones to the faculty and had training
sessions for all of them. In the Fall of 2009, we handed out over 800 MacBooks and iPod Touches or iPhones to
all incoming students—undergraduate and graduate. We have continued to phase the program in year after year
until we will be full ubiquitous by 2012. The program has gone better than I could have ever dreamed for a
variety of reasons. First, I knew what some of the mistakes I had made in the past were and wanted to avoid them.
Much of that dealt with getting faculty trained by outside experts and getting the new equipment in their hands
well before they were expected to use it.
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I learned how to build consensus and that it is really important to spend the time to work with all the stakeholders
of a new project. Each group I met with refined the idea a bit more and made the program better. They also felt
that they were heard and had some buy in. I also learned that it doesn’t hurt to have people actually contribute
money so they have greater buy in. Most importantly, I think the program has to come out of your mission and
your strategic plan, and that is where you will get your greatest buy in.
Reflection Prompt:____________________________________________________
Springboard 6
Tough Decisions Will Get Results
Richard B Artman, President
Viterbo University
900 Viterbo Drive
La Crosse, WI
“Perhaps the best professional advice given to me in preparation for assuming my first presidential position came
during the New President’s Institute offered by the Council of Independent Colleges in 2006-2007. I am currently
in my 18 year as a university president and this counsel still rings true; and I repeat it when making presentations
to new presidents. The speaker, President Robert Vogel of Wartburg College (Iowa), told our group of new
presidents that “we are not paid to do our best.” That bromide certainly caught our attention. Bob went on to say
that our boards of trustees have hired us to get results. He said if we are unable to raise funds, unable to build
positive relationships with the faculty, unable to hire and retain an effective senior management team, unable to
handle the financial challenges that face us (etc.), then the trustees will inevitably find someone else who can.
This is true at all levels of executive leadership. I often recall Bob’s advice when faced with a difficult decision.
I eat a few courage cookies and make the tough decisions that will get results.”
Reflection Prompt:____________________________________________________
Springboard 7
The Accreditation Challenge
Roslyn Clark Artis, J.D., Ed.D
Executive Vice President - Beckley Campus
Mountain State University
Beckley, WV
The ultimate measure of a man is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he
stands at times of challenge and controversy."
~ Martin Luther King, Jr.
There is no greater test of academic leadership than an accreditation challenge. Generally, academia is a
stimulating, curious, and fulfilling vocation. However, in the unfortunate event that the quality and credibility of
an academic program is questioned by an accrediting body, the role of the Chief Academic Officer in
transformed. He/she becomes almost singularly focused on corrective action. Often this can mean difficult
personnel decisions. Further, and perhaps more important, the Chief Academic Officer must simultaneously lead,
guide, direct, nurture, develop and inspire faculty, staff and even students whose confidence may have been
shaken. I have unfortunately faced this challenge, and while certainly not an uplifting experience, I can say with
certainty that I am better for having had it. Those who are scholars of human anatomy, or simply fitness
enthusiasts, recognize that strength training is painful and exhausting. However, for most, the result of the
process is a stronger and often more attractive physical appearance. The same is true in higher education.
Accrediting bodies exist to ensure the quality of higher education. While criticism and/or sanction is painful,
even grueling, those who embrace the process as an opportunity to improve are better as a result.
Reflection Prompt:____________________________________________________
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Springboard 8
Vol. 2 No. 22 [Special Issue – November 2012]
Expect the Unexpected
Ms.) J. Leeanne Johnson, B.A., M.S., SEVIS PDSO & RO, Director
Office of International Student Services (OISS)
Regent University
Virginia Beach, VA
Our Spring, 2012 International Student Orientation had just ended and we were waiting for one new student in
front of her Residence Hall for the Bowling Social my office (Office of International Student Services) had
planned for the new students’ first weekend in the United States! After waiting for quite a while, I went to check
on another pick-up group, then I returned to check on this one student. I was delighted to see her standing in front
of her Residence Hall this time, but she had a worried and puzzled look on her face. She indicated that she was
not going to be able to go bowling because of “too much homework” (Law student). Then, she quickly began to
ask me if she could use “regular” dish suds in the dishwasher. I explained that dishwashers require a special kind
of soap for “automatic” machines. She began to laugh, quite a bit, while covering her mouth in typical Asian
fashion, and explained that the reason she was so late for the pick-up was because she had to spend “a half hour”
cleaning up all the dish suds from her new apartment after using regular soap in her dishwasher!!! We both had
quite a nice long laugh, and I still can’t help but laugh aloud every time I envision this!
Here are my “Lessons Learned”:
−
−
−
Be sure to check-up on new international students during the Orientation Shopping Trips, even if they have
lived in the U.S. before and have told you they do not need any help with product selection!
Make sure several international students review any special resource guides created by certain offices, like
Student Housing!
Realize that even though you might have been practicing in Student Services for over 20 years you should
still expect the unexpected!
Reflection Prompt:____________________________________________________
Springboard 9
Integrity
Kevin E. Drumm, PhD
President
Broome Community College
Binghamton, NY
I cannot emphasize enough the words of General Norman Schwarzkopf who when asked what were the top three
traits of a good leader, replied: “Integrity! Integrity! And integrity!” If you are willing to compromise your
integrity, you cannot be an effective college or university administrator. At least in my opinion. And I mean
integrity in its broadest sense, including not only your own but that of your college’s academic integrity. I have
made decisions that I felt maintained my integrity while being entirely prepared to lose my job as a result. While
enrollment pays most of the bills for my current college these days, I will not make decisions that undermine high
academic standards just to grow enrollments. And when as a college president I felt that to continue in the role
successfully I was going to have to compromise my own integrity to an unacceptable extent, I left in spite of the
overall job itself and the day-to-day circumstances going very very well. In order for me to accomplish the next
major strategic goal of that college, I was going to have to make too much compromise with a major outside
private donor to get it done and so I left. This was in spite of the fact that my board was just fine with the
compromises I would have needed to make. I wasn’t!
The other piece of advice I would give you is to pick your battles wisely, whether with your faculty, outside
constituencies, or your board or boss. You cannot win them all, but you should win the ones you pick if you pick
wisely! You don’t have the time to take them all on, so prioritize and pick your battles wisely. In today’s highly
politically charged environment you just cannot afford to lose any of the major battles you pick…
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But you must be in one almost all the time to be successful in this politically charged and economically lean
environment. No college is perfect and “all” consequential change comes hard fought in our line of work. If it
doesn’t come hard for the big initiatives, you’re not picking the right things to focus on.
So, while integrity is the single most important personal trait you should bring to your job, picking your battles
and then winning them is the single most important skill I suggest you bring to college administration.
Reflection Prompt:____________________________________________________
Springboard 10
Administrative Influence: Power without Position*
Ed Klonoski, President
Charter Oak State College
New Britain, CT
There are two different sources of managerial influence. The most common comes from position. Team Leaders,
Deans, Presidents are all assigned influence that is associated with their positions. But I have found that for most
of my career I wielded influence that was larger than that associated with my position. In other words, I was able
to drive the organization’s agenda while sitting in an administrative seat that offered little direct power.
The idea of managing through influence is a critical concept for both young administrators and senior ones. For
the latter, it is important to make full use of your idea leaders. For the former, it is important not to miss the
opportunities that leading through influence offer. It is a mistake to wait for organizational position to bestow
power before exerting influence; such a position is only likely to arrive if you have first learned how to be
influential.
So what does managing through influence look like? For me, it began by being dramatically more efficient and
organized than my peers in small matters. Initially, I took pleasure in seeing how rapidly I could process
administrative requests for information. When I was complimented (or teased) for my efficiency, I always gave
the credit to the technology I was deploying. So instead of being seen as a toady, I was viewed as a technology
guru. Second, I always volunteered to take the Minutes at any meeting I attended. This gave me control of the
organization memory about whatever was “decided” at the meeting. Third, because I had good productivity
software skills, I also volunteered to create spreadsheets, forms, web pages, etc. whenever such work needed to be
accomplished. I continued producing these artifacts even when my administrative position had advanced. In
these three ways, I gained influence beyond my status because I was the one doing the work that drove the
agenda, and I was putting the decisions into language.
The key leaders were grateful for my support, and they often needed to talk to me about these various
deliverables. And that was how I gained influence beyond my position.
Those follow-up conversations gave me one-on-one access and additional opportunities to make my arguments.
Finally, I tried to bring organizational context to every conversation that I was invited to be part of. When
everyone else was asking questions about how an action would affect them or how it could be deployed, I was
asking questions about how it would advance our mission or help us achieve our goals. This approach cut both
ways. Sometimes such questions helped push a leader’s agenda, but often they did just the opposite. Asking a
question about how an action will serve the published goals of an organization forces the conversation in a
productive direction, even if the leader resists. It is also the sort of question that ought to be asked by the boss, so
over time the group begins to expect that you will bring a “leader’s” perspective to conversations. From here it is
a much shorter jump to positional influence (i.e. promotion to a leadership chair).
Reflection Prompt:____________________________________________________
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Vol. 2 No. 22 [Special Issue – November 2012]
The Importance of Education
Carole A. McCoy, DPA
President, Jefferson Community College
Watertown, NY
When I headed off to college at the age of 18 I had no idea what I wanted to do with my life. I was miserable on
campus and hated living in the dorm. At the end of my first year I dropped out. I got a job as a directory
assistance operator, got my own apartment, bought a brand new car, and thought I was set. I wanted
independence and now I had it. However, it didn’t take very long for me to realize that the $98.50 I was making a
week and more importantly the lack of challenge associated with looking up telephone numbers 8 hours a day
were not a recipe for happiness. I couldn’t picture doing what I was doing for the rest of my life. So I worked
full-time and went back to school part-time flitting from school to school based upon where I was living and who
I was dating at the time. I didn’t have a degree plan but at least I realized I had to get an education. I took a
variety of courses in a variety of programs at a variety of colleges which of course did not result in any credential.
It did though result in a lot of learning and the opportunity to meet my husband.
After a few years of working I was extremely fortunate to be accepted into a computer programmer basic training
program at Mountain Bell Telephone Company (pre AT&T divestiture). I had a good career as an information
systems professional at Mountain Bell and then moved on to IT positions at several other organizations over the
years. I rose through the ranks despite never having completed my bachelor’s degree. But eventually I hit a wall
and could not go any further without my degree. Again I realized that what I was doing was not a recipe for
happiness. With lots of encouragement from my husband I finally got serious about completing my bachelor’s
degree and then decided I would get an MBA. Doing this while working full-time and having a spouse and child
was tough. I can’t tell you how many times I wanted to kick myself for not getting my education when I was
young (and my parents were paying for it).
Once I finished my MBA I again thought I was set for life. Little did I know that I would accept a senior IT
position at a community college and fall in love with the community college mission. For the first time in a long
time I felt I was exactly where I belonged. My job responsibilities at the community college expanded far beyond
IT and once again I felt I needed to get more education. I also started thinking about trying to be a community
college president. I applied for and was accepted into a doctor of public administration program at the University
of Baltimore. I completed the program and shortly afterward accepted a position as a community college
president. I tell people all the time you never know where your life is going to go but that getting an education
is imperative. Life is a winding road and I certainly couldn’t see where mine was going to lead. My husband and
I sometimes sit and reflect on the path we have taken during our 35 year marriage and ask ourselves did we ever
picture where we would wind up. The answer every time is no. I try to picture my life had I completed my
education right out of high school. I know it wouldn’t be the same. I believe my life is richer because of the
winding path I took and how much I came to value higher education. I still haven’t stopped taking college
classes. I’m back to taking the ones that appeal to me and look like fun. A couple of years ago I took Latin. This
year I’m taking tax accounting. As I said, life is a winding road. Who knows where it will lead?
Reflection Prompt:____________________________________________________
3. * Participants wrote the title. Other titles were developed from the contribution.
4. Note: Readers interested in other personal experiences written by successful administrators are referred to the following
articles: (a) Springboards to Reflection: Higher Education Administrators Share Experiences Volume I (Synnott, 2011a) and
(b) Real Life Lessons in Leadership Part 1 (Synnott (2011b).
5. References
Synnott, C. K. (2011a). Springboards to Reflection: Higher Education Administrators Share Experiences Volume
I [Special Issue]. International Journal of Humanities and Social Science, 1 (13 ), 137-146.
Synnott, C. K. (2011b). Real Life Lessons in Leadership Part 1. International Journal of Business and Social
Science, 2(20), 286-294.
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